


Your Bite's Worse Than Your Bark

by doctormambo



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:34:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26589703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctormambo/pseuds/doctormambo
Summary: Cassandra is a vault hunter who once worked for Hyperion. She really thought leaving was going to give her a simple life of adventure with her new friends. The problem is, she didn't realise that Jack still holds onto the past with anger. Handsome Jack is dragging her back into his life to punish her for what she did to him and all she can do is let him have his way.
Relationships: Handsome Jack (Borderlands)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

Four vault hunters approached the small facility in the side of the mountain, a set of steel doors separating them from the next piece of the vault key, or something, maybe even a map to show the location. The retired punk band stood and looked at the door for a moment before the drummer, the muscular and broad guy by the name of Lars pulled a crowbar from his back and pried open the doors. The tall, slinky woman, previously the lead singer and guitarist who was lovingly nicknamed Jett, barged her way through the steel doors with a cheer, but stopped as a hand grasped her wrist, and let out a long sigh. Cassandra, the rhythm guitarist, the tiniest of the group, held the excitable show woman back. Instead, the lean, tall bassist, usually referred to as Stevie, made his way stealthily down the hall, quickly followed by the others.

“You’re getting closer to what will take you to the vault,” the voice echoed around Cassandra’s mind, still not entirely sure how this worked, but it did.

The voice belonged to an AI system that seemed to be helping her and her gang of vault hunters, never having done wrong by them so far, and yet a knot sat firmly in her stomach. There was no rhyme or reason for it, and yet she still couldn’t help but feel uneasy as they walked through the completely empty base of what apparently once belonged to Atlas. They were massacred and tortured, and yet there were no bodies, or even a sign of a drop of blood. Her hand nervously gripped her SMG a little tighter, her finger hovering over the trigger as the knot in her stomach tightened. Nervously, she shot a smile to Stevie who walked beside her, his hand slowly caressing the small of her back, trying his hardest to comfort her. With a little giddy step, Jett skipped ahead, pushing past Cassandra, Stevie, and even her own boyfriend, Lars, exclaiming how excited she was to finally be able to even sniff at a vault key.

“Come to ma-” her excitement cut by a short sharp crack.

Cassandra watched as her best friend crumpled to the floor with a bullet firmly lodged into her brain. After a split second of consideration, the entire room erupted into action. Lars was sent into a rage, his hulking form towering over the Hyperion soldiers as he held a gun in one hand while flailing around with an axe in the other. Cassandra took an extra second to breathe, smelling the blood of the woman she considered her sister, and that knot in her stomach almost making her wretch. Instinctively, her hand raised to her cybernetic enhancement and she pressed the button, waiting for something to happen, but nothing came next. Her eyes darted around the room and she spotted it.

“They’re jamming my signal, I gotta take the beacon out, cover me!” Cassandra drew her pistol, as she tucked away her SMG.  
“We both know your shots are about as accurate as a skag having a piss, cover me,” Stevie couldn’t resist a little smirk.

Cassandra rolled her eyes at him and stepped up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek as he drew his sniper rifle. Almost as soon as her lips touched his skin, a bullet ripped through his skull and his limp body fell to the floor as she felt a whimper getting stuck in her throat. She pressed her back against the back of the remaining vault hunter and looked at the surrounding small army of Hyperion, her hand shaking as she gripped her pistol tighter. Without a word, Lars grabbed her around the waist, moving to put her up on his shoulder so she could get the shot to the jammer. Except after a second, the hand fell limp and both bodies fell to the floor, Cassandra letting out a small grunt as she hit the dust. Before she could even react, a yellow gloved fist hit her squarely in the face and she felt the darkness consume her.

* * *

Cassandra swiped her keycard and walked through the door as she tied her hair up into a messy bun, greeting one of her co-workers with a polite smile and making her way to her desk. She let out a small sigh as she sat down at her desk but was instantly able to smile as she saw the coffee already waiting for her. Her eyes looked over at the guy who was set at the desk next to her, the smile growing a little wider as he ran a hand through his thick brown hair. He smiled back, watching as she took a sip and then began tapping away at her keyboard. His gaze lingered on her probably a little longer than it should have, but he couldn’t help but watch as she wrinkled her nose in that adorable little way that she did. But he quickly looked away when he sensed that she was about to look up, not wanting her to know that he was staring.

“Thanks for the coffee, John,” she broke from her computer for a moment.  
“Any time, Cassie-Bean,” he smiled, this time knowing he was allowed to look at her.  
“I think it’s almost time I call you my dealer,” she joked.  
“You know I have what you need,” his tone a little more flirtatious.  
“Maybe,” she giggled. “Just keep the coffee coming,” she winked.  
“Anything for you,” his smile becoming more genuine.

The two had worked side by side for years now, almost reliant on each other to get through the massive workload that Hyperion kept dumping on them. At least they could both take comfort that they weren’t the people that were on the front lines behind the guns, but sometimes they felt as if they had it worse. If they weren’t here for hours on end trying to finish coding so they weren’t fired, they were tasked with jobs that felt almost impossible and never had a chance to recover from the burnout. Coffee had become the only thing that could even remotely pull her through the day, and John had been the one person that tended to stop her from thinking about quitting the job all together.

“Late night for you, huh?” he asked, this time still looking at his computer.  
“No later than usual, just found it really hard to even get out of bed,” she snorted, underlined by her typing.  
“Wouldn’t even get out of bed to see your best friend?” he acted hurt.  
“You’re the only reason I did in the end,” she smiled as she glanced at him.  
“Aw, I’m touched,” he smiled.  
“You know you’re the only one stopping me from quitting this place,” she stopped typing to smile over at him.  
“When the time’s right, we’ll both quit, we’ll start our own company, we’ll take over everything,” he grinned.  
“Easy there Jacky boy, let’s focus on this before we get fired instead,” she grinned softly.  
“I guess we don’t have time for the rebellion just yet,” his tone almost sad.  
“One day though, I know big things lay ahead for you,” she smiled as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

Before he could reply, she had already gone back to typing away like her life depended on it, and there was a high possibility that was true. But before he could go back to his own computer screen, he still stole another glance of her and the way her nimble finger tucked the hair away and chewed on her lip before typing furiously once more. He hated how she made him feel sometimes because he was terrified of ever having someone that he could lose like he had lost his wife. And yet the strange feeling in his stomach felt natural and so enjoyable while he could hold onto it. He turned back to his own computer and continued to type away at the code that they were both trying to work on.

Time spent in front of the computers at Hyperion never seemed to make sense, sometimes hours flew by in almost minutes and other times it was more like days. The only thing that ever made it endurable was the company around them and Cassandra and John had never felt luckier than to be sat next to each other. Before his cup could empty of coffee, she had returned with a coffee for both of them and just a smile between them before they carried on. It wasn’t long before the two of them reached for the coffee at the same time and their hands brushed against each other. While Cassandra was oblivious to it, John noticed and his cheeks flushed red, glancing at her and returning to work once he realised she hadn’t noticed. He berated himself for being such an idiot and yet still couldn’t fight that fuzzy feeling in his stomach.

A few more coffee runs later, and it was beginning to feel like maybe the work day was drawing to an end, but no one could be completely sure. Cassandra had worked throughout all of her breaks, just to try and finally finish all of this and yet still didn’t feel any closer to the end. Then again, working for Hyperion was always going to feel this way and she wished that she could get away from that feeling. When she was a kid, all she had ever dreamed of was making a difference and being able to enjoy herself while she did it, and yet now she dreaded even waking up most mornings and she needed to change that. She wished she knew how to. After another hefty sigh, she took a long drink of her coffee and then had to let out another heavy sigh as that was the last of it for another cup.

“You think I would let you run out of coffee,” he smirked as he placed the new cup in her hand.  
“As my dealer, I would have been very ashamed of you if you did,” she smirked playfully.  
“I’d never let you down like that,” he sat back down, smiling at her.  
“And that’s why you’re my favourite,” she winked.

Once more, he couldn’t help but let his gaze linger on her as she went back to work almost instantly. After his wife had died, he never really felt that he would care for someone in that way again, but here he was. Cassie was the only person he worked with that he had introduced to his daughter and Angel seemed to really enjoy being around her. He didn’t let them spend too much time together since he was still terrified of what his child could do, but seeing them together brought him so much joy. Maybe that was the new life he could imagine, and if he could get her to see things his way, he could get her to live that perfect life with him.

The work day was now officially over so they were legally allowed to leave without losing their jobs. John carefully made sure to save all of the files he had to before he shut down the computer and looked to Cassie who was still typing. He reached out and held her shoulder softly, letting her know that he was there and that the day was over for them, but she was still typing, still completely focused.

“John to Cassie, come in Cassie,” he joked, but his face showing slight concern.  
“What?” she jumped slightly. “Sorry, miles away,” she chuckled awkwardly. “Guess it’s home time,” she smiled sheepishly.  
“It is indeed,” he said, trying to find the right words. “Uh, so… what’s the plan?” he asked, hating himself for sounding so stupid.  
“Home, sleep,” she smirked before standing up. She stood up and instantly held onto John as she lost her balance. “Sorry, went a little… light headed there,” she chuckled nervously.  
“Don’t apologise, you alright?” he asked, holding onto her possibly a little too tightly.  
“Yeah, fine, probably just over worked and under nourished,” she laughed loudly.  
“Why don’t we get something to eat? And not from the Hyperion canteen, some actual food,” he smiled softly, still holding onto her arm.  
“Alright, but only if you’re paying,” she sounded oddly weak but still playful.

John gave her a little nod and smiled as he picked up her jacket from the back of her chair and started walking arm in arm with her as they made their way out of the office. Right now, Hyperion was simply a big massive building like many others on Pandora, but there was current construction on a base that would orbit the planet so they could keep a better eye on operations, not that either of the coders really cared, they would still be stuck behind a computer. There was still a larger compound around them that was like a little town, only built on the complex because of the amount of employees they had lost to bandits who tried to just grab some shopping or food. The result was high priced goods, but less chance of death, so they took it.

There wasn’t much to choose from, but the few restaurants there were provided decent food that they could both enjoy. After a short discussion, they decided the burger place was probably their best choice for their pseudo-date and made their way in and got themselves a booth. Once they were sat down, Cassie was starting to feel a little more level, but John couldn’t stop himself from watching her, making sure that she was okay. She caught him and sent him a reassuring smile, this was typical for her, especially after a day of working because she just didn’t look after herself. She tried to work as hard as she could so she could get as much done so she didn’t have to think about anything once she was home and she could just have a clear head so just sleep.

“So how you feeling?” he asked softly.  
“Hey there folks!” the cheery robot interrupted them before they could even start their conversation. “What can I get for you?”  
“Oh…” Cassie was a little thrown off by the sudden robot. “Can I get the number five with a milkshake?”  
“And for you, sir?” the robot still far too friendly for John’s liking.  
“Uh, the same, with a soda,” he was dismissive, just wanting to talk to Cassie, turning away from the robot.  
“Great! Is there anything else I can get for you?”  
“No, we’re good thanks,” John was slightly losing his temper.  
“Are you sure? I can tell you about our fantastic sides! Or what about our hard drinks?”  
“No, I said we’re fine,” he snapped slightly.  
“Okey dokey!” the robot wheeled away.  
“Hey, you okay?” Cassie asked as she reached for his hand.  
“Yeah, sorry, just… I really hate those robots,” he tried to laugh it off.  
“I hear ya,” she chuckled, taking her hand back.  
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” he looked at her seriously.  
“I’m breathing, so I guess that’s as okay as we are working here,” she chuckled.  
“Cassie, come on, it’s just us, no Hyperion overlords to overhear you, what’s going on?”  
“I’m just tired, you know? I get up and do the same thing every day, I don’t have anything for me, I just exist for Hyperion and… I think I’ve lost my soul,” she smiled, but this one wasn’t big and goofy, it was almost heart breaking.  
“Are you… thinking about quitting?” he asked, almost panicked.  
“Where would I go? What would I do? Go somewhere else and code in a different darkened room?” she snorted.  
“It’ll be alright, something will change,” he offered a reassuring smile.  
“So now I just sit and wait for something to happen? Living like this and hoping it changes without doing anything?” she sighed.  
“I… I don’t know,” he watched her for a moment. “But at least you get to see me, right?” he half joked.

Cassie looked up at him and a true smile began to form on her lips as their fingertips finally met on the table. They were having a moment, just between the two of them as they looked at each other, their fingers carefully starting to curl around each other when suddenly the robot returned, pushing their hands apart while putting the food on the table and telling them to enjoy the meal. John and Cassie both sat back for a moment and caught themselves, regaining composure and both tucking that moment away. The two of them started to eat their food in silence, not quite knowing where they stood any more, trying to understand if they were beginning to feel something more than a friendship or if it was just a charged moment.

“At least try and remember to eat tomorrow, I don’t want you swooning into my arms again,” John poked.  
“Oh, I’m sure you enjoyed that,” she smirked playfully.  
“Honestly, I was a little worried.”  
“Sorry, you know how I get when I’m in the zone, plus, Hyperion lunch, no thank you,” she chuckled.  
“You don’t have to apologise, I’ll have to start bringing you lunch as well,” he grinned.  
“You might as well, just bring me all the treasures,” she giggled. “You can become my slave around the office.”  
“If I’d be a slave for anyone, it’d be you,” he got lost in her eyes for a moment.  
“Bet you say that to all the girls,” she gave him a coy smirk before going for a sip of her milkshake.

The words got caught in his throat as he tried to say something back. Usually he was smooth and able to talk to women in that way that would turn them into putty in his hands, but there was something about constantly trying to be like that around Cassie just made him nervous. It was so unlike him and it’s why he couldn’t help but feel that it meant there was something much more than just another fling or a casual flirtation. He couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of her, looking up from her milkshake with a small smile. She had no idea what she was doing to him right now. She shifted in her seat and her leg slowly brushed against his, wondering if it was a simple accident or on purpose, but nothing in her face giving her away. He wanted to move away, to stop the contact with her, he couldn’t do it, instead just letting her foot rest against the back of his calf.

“No, that’s not true and you know it,” he finally replied.  
“I guess I am the only one you bring coffee to,” she finally looked up at him.  
“Exactly, you’re the only one I deal to,” he winked.  
“That’s just because you don’t want me leaving you alone with those animals,” she snorted.  
“Maybe, or maybe it’s because you’re my favourite,” he looked at her, the smile creeping back.  
Cassie blushed ever so slightly. “Well, of course, I am the best coder there,” she recovered quickly. “Get rid of me, you end up with almost double the work,” she raised an eyebrow.  
“That’s not the only reason and you know it.”  
“Is it not? Oh? Do tell, what are these other reasons?” she asked with a grin, leaning forward.  
“Anything else I can get you?” the robot chirped brightly.  
“No, we’re good thanks,” Cassie smiled politely.  
“Are you sure? You look low on drinks, I can get you a top up.”  
“As I said, we’re good thanks,” she tried to remain polite.  
“What about some more food?” it asked again.  
“We said we’re fine, can you just let us eat in peace?” John snipped.  
“Alrighty, enjoy!” the robot remained cheerful before it wheeled off.  
“Those things are way too cheerful to work for Hyperion,” John grumbled.  
“Because they’re programmed by people who wish they were that happy,” she chuckled.  
“You make a good point… but still, do they have to be that happy?”  
“Maybe we should re-programme them to be bitter like us,” she smirked.  
“Don’t tempt me…” he smiled mischievously.  
“So, you were going to tell me all the other reasons you could never stand to part with me…” she grinned.  
“What? And let your ego grow even bigger, in your dreams, Cassie-Bean,” he smirked.  
“Oh, well played Jacky boy,” she playfully glared at him.

The two of them stared at each other, both vaguely getting lost in the moment and wondering if they could just stay here instead of going back to their lives past this day. But of course, they were once again interrupted by the robot waiter who cleared their empty plates and asked if they wanted dessert which Cassie promptly answered with an ice cream sundae and John yielded and ordered the same. Instead of returning to chat they just spent another moment looking at each other but were quickly taken out of it by the returning bot bringing them their desserts and they started eating right away.

They chatted away, mainly discussing the in office dramas and moaning about some of the less than smart people they had to work with. Sometimes it was alright, but other times, the people they worked with could be trying, especially when they could barely turn their computer on. And don’t get them started on the people who barked the orders but would have no idea what the difference between a line of code and a command was. It was sometimes a losing battle, and yet they still went on, trying their hardest to just get something done to feel a small amount of achievement. Maybe it wasn’t the best way to live, but it definitely seemed better than the alternative of spending most of the time scraping by and hoping bandits didn’t kill them.

“So I’m assuming it’s still home and sleep after this?” he asked with a little smirk.  
“What else would there be?” she shrugged slightly.  
“You could always pick up a hobby.”  
“As if I would even have the energy for that,” she sighed sadly.  
“If you want to come over, any time, you know you’re welcome,” he smiled sweetly.  
“Thanks, though tonight, maybe I should just at least try to get an early night,” she smiled weakly back.  
“You promise?” he placed a hand on her shoulder with a little smile.  
She couldn’t help but grin ever so slightly. “Alright, I promise, camomile tea and then straight to bed,” she nudged him playfully.  
“Good, and then you won’t be passing out at work,” he looked at her sternly.  
“Well, at least not from tiredness, maybe from boredom,” she smirked.  
“I’ll just have to try and keep you entertained,” he grinned.  
“I definitely look forward to that,” she smirked.  
“C’mon, let’s get you home.”

The two of them made their way out of the diner and John made sure to pay on the way out before Cassandra even had a chance to. As they walked towards a fast travel station, he couldn’t help but let his mind travel ever so slightly, thinking about the future they could have as the two of them would walk together and go to the same home. Maybe she would stay at home while he made more money at Hyperion and she could spend the days looking after Angel and doing everything she wanted instead of losing her identity behind a computer. He could see her inventing things on her own time, coming up with cool things to make life on Pandora safer and he couldn’t help but smile to himself.

“What you smiling about?” she caught him, looking up with a little smirk.  
“Oh… uh,” he was flustered for a moment, “nothing, I just like spending time with you like this, just the two of us, you know?”  
“Maybe we should make this more regular, just hang out, no talk about work, no stress, just the two of us,” she smiled.  
“I wouldn’t say no to that,” he watched her for a moment, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.  
For just a moment, she was absolutely lost in his eyes, a smile spreading across her lips. “It would definitely help me get to the end of a work day,” her smile turning to a slight smirk.  
“As long as you still get your work done,” he chuckled.  
“You know me, always professional when I’m in that building,” she winked playfully.  
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow being nothing but professional tomorrow.”  
“Well of course, Jacky boy.”

Before she made her way over to the console, she stood up on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss upon his cheek. He didn’t even have a chance to react, watching as she disappeared off to her own apartment. Why couldn’t he ever just say to her how he really felt and how much he loved spending every moment with her? He could’ve kissed her back, or stopped her from walking away, but he had just frozen. With a hefty sigh he stood at the fast travel and waited, trying to compose himself. Maybe tomorrow he would tell her, or maybe it would just have to wait another few weeks.

* * *

Cassandra’s vision was slightly bleary as she opened her eyes, the bright light of the room taking a few moments to adjust to as she tried to process what had happened before she woke up. The three people she had grown so close to, the only three people she could confidently say that she loved had been ripped from her with brutal precision that she just couldn’t understand. Why had she been spared? And then it all began to click into place. Lilith had told her about the rise of John through Hyperion after murdering Tassiter and declaring himself the new CEO. While she didn’t want to believe it, she was now being forced to, accepting that the John that she shared coffee with on so many occasions probably was no longer around. Was he really behind all of this, or was it just a general Hyperion act to try and get rid of vault hunters? But there was no way if that was the case, they would have left her alive.

With a long groan of pain, she shifted slightly, trying to sit up, but the sharp pain in her head throbbed uncontrollably. Gingerly, she raised her hand to the side of her head, flinching as her fingers caught the edge of the perfectly round wound, the sticky blood on her skin somehow making this hit her harder. They had the ability to jam the signal, to stop her from releasing her tech, and yet they went a step further and removed it completely, taking away something she had created herself. She took a deep, slow breath in, trying to steady herself and make things feel even remotely stable, but not entirely sure she’d be able to, especially in this situation. Before she could even consider making another move, the door opened and she turned quickly to see him, standing before her. A lump formed in her throat as she looked at the strange second skin that covered his face, unable to decide where to look.

“Bet you never thought you’d be back at Hyperion, huh?” his smirk was sickly.  
“What do you want with me?” she sneered.  
“Not even a hello? Aw, Cassandra, I’m hurt,” his tone remained smarmy.  
“You don’t deserve a hello after what you did,” she spat.  
“Upset my team is better than yours?”  
“It’s not really a competition when you had ten times the men there.”  
He chuckled. “Well, had to make sure that you were the only one to survive,” he stepped closer.  
“Why? Why just me?”  
“Do you really have to ask that?” he folded his arms across his chest.  
“I would rather you just killed me,” she said quietly.  
“Oh, don’t tempt me, you may just get what you wish for,” he squatted in front of her.  
“Then do it,” her eyes finally filling with tears as she looked at him.  
“All in good time, babe,” he wiped one of the tears from her cheek that had broken the waterline.

The strange feeling she used to get in her stomach when he would tuck her hair behind her ear was gone and replaced by a sickness that pulled and made her want to throw up. The comfort and ease of being around him had completely disappeared and was replaced by dread and terror. She would once look into his heterochromatic eyes with intrigue and a slight sparkle, and now she felt nothing but fear.

“Unlike you to have nothing to say,” his hand still rested on her cheek.  
“There’s nothing left to say.”  
“Good to see that you know your place,” he smirked, finally taking his hand away.  
“Fuck you,” she sneered, spitting right in his eye.  
“Looks like I have to show you your place,” he sighed as he stood up, wiping away the saliva. “I really hope you learn quickly,” he turned and left.

It was like every single emotion in the world coursed through her body as she tried to comprehend what was even happening. All she could do right now was to curl up on the cold, metal floor and hold onto herself, hoping that maybe the world would stop spinning around her so quickly. Not only was her entire existence in the hands of someone who had brought her here against her will and murdered her make-shift family, but also a man whose motives were so foggy for her. She couldn’t even bring herself to think about the past and start to pick apart what she had done to warrant this. He had completely destroyed her life in under a minute and she didn’t feel she could have ever done anything bad enough to deserve this as a punishment.

“Cassandra, can you hear me?” Angel’s voice rang through her head.  
“Did you know?” her voice cracked.  
“Did I know what?” she asked.  
“That it was a trap, that I was walking into Hyperion. You told me that was where a clue to a key was and that was a lie.”  
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I… there’s some things I need to tell you. I’m not an A.I., Jack tells me the information and I relay it, but I never thought that he would make this happen.”  
There was a moment of silence.  
“Angel, is that your real name?”  
“Yes…”  
“A…are you… you’re John’s daughter, aren’t you?”  
“You remember me?” Angel seemed slightly surprised.  
“Of course I do,” her voice softened slightly. “We met a few times, I don’t know if you remember it… you were quite young.”  
“I do, it’s why I was eager to help you, I just… I never realised this was the goal, if I did, I wouldn’t have let him do it. I promise.”  
“What does he want?”  
“I don’t know, but I can get you out of here, I can do something to help you escape.”  
“No, that’s too dangerous, I don’t want you to get hurt, I can look after myself.”  
“But it’s my fault you’re here,” Angel sounded somewhat defended.  
“It’s not your fault, it’s his. He orchestrated all of this, he manipulated the entire situation to get what he wanted, that’s not on you.”  
“I can do something to get you out of here, there has to be something I can do,” she was becoming frantic, hoping she could do something.  
“Angel, please, don’t put yourself in danger for me.”  
“Can I do anything?”  
“Could you warm the room up?” she asked sadly.  
“Of course,” she was defeated, but realised that maybe Cassandra just needed time alone.

Cassandra stayed almost still on the floor, knowing that it was currently futile to even try and escape without a fully realised plan. It was a plan that she couldn’t get Angel involved in either just because she was too close to John, it could end in her getting hurt. No matter how much she wanted to be free, she couldn’t live with that hanging over her head. None of this was making sense in her head, while she understood the stance that Hyperion took on anyone that got in their way, she couldn’t understand why she was spared. He wanted to teach her a lesson, he wanted to punish her, and she couldn’t comprehend his reasoning at all. She just hoped this was all some twisted nightmare.


	2. Chapter 2

Cassandra was awoken by two Hyperion guards pulling her to her feet and dragging her from the room and down the corridor. She didn’t bother fighting them, her body was far too beaten to even try to defend herself. Her feet tried to keep up with the pace, but mostly, they just dragged along the floor until she was finally thrown into another room and pushed into a chair. They left her in the room as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, only really able to make out the shape of computers on desks and not much else. Suddenly, the room was bathed in light and she had to shield her eyes so she wouldn’t be completely blinded, waiting for her eyes to adjust again and then looked around. He stood there with his sick smirk and his arms folded across his chest.

Everything bubbled up and she couldn’t stop herself as she launched herself towards him with a clenched fist but was punched back into her seat before she could even reach him. Her grunt caused him to snort loudly as he approached, starting to circle her. She was unsettled, but she wasn’t going to show that to him, she was going to hold her head up high and pretend that there wasn’t a tense feeling in her body that could cause her to throw up at any moment. There was no energy left in her body to help her get the upper hand over him and guessed that it was time to give in for now while she devised a plan to get out of here.

“Settled down now, kitten?” he teased.  
“Don’t call me that,” she seethed.  
“Don’t know if you’ve noticed here, but you don’t get to call the shots around here.”  
“What do you want with me?” her voice shrank.  
“Now, you know Hyperion only hires the best coders and the burnout is a bitch,” he laughed heartily, “but you also know how they’re not always loyal. The best way to beat that is to have a designated coder who you know is one of the best and also knows her life is on the line if she fucks this up,” he moved closer. “So pumpkin, you’re gonna sit behind a desk and you’re gonna write this code for me,” his voice more menacing now, “do you understand?”  
“And what if I refuse?”  
“You know the usual, torture, eradicating a village every time you say no, yada yada, the usual,” his tone was nonchalant.  
“You wouldn’t…” her eyes widened.  
“You wanna test that theory?” he smirked, leaning forward as he rested his hands on the arms of the chair.  
She swallowed hard, the ruthless reputation preceded him and there wasn’t a chance she would risk innocent lives on that. She shook her head meekly.  
“Thought not babe,” he smirked.  
“So what am I doing?” she asked, defeated as she finally looked up at him.  
He moved behind her and pushed the chair towards a terminal. “I need you to ramp up the security, something that’s gonna keep vault hunters out of every Hyperion place I have, traps, alarms, instant Loaders everywhere, the whole thing,” he said in her ear as he leant down. “Lives are on the line, so get working, I got a meeting,” he turned on the computer. “Don’t let me down babe.”

And with that, he was gone. Every single word that had left his lips had been a deep veiled threat, the same things that they would complain about all the time while they worked as coders together, but of course things were very different now. The soft glow of the computer screen was like an instant shot of nostalgia and without a thought, she tied her hair up into a messy ponytail and started working away. Old habits kicked back in as she tapped away at the keyboard, the muscle memory simply taking over as she got lost in the lines of code.

* * *

After a hard day of working, John and Cassandra had made their way back to his home, finally having that downtime that they so much deserved. There was no denying it, but Cassandra was ever so nervous about being alone with him in a place where there wasn’t anyone else around to watch what they were up to. Then again, there was a chance that Angel would bound in and make sure that they weren’t getting up to too much. But looking around, there wasn’t much evidence that Angel had been running around getting up to the usual trouble she did, so maybe she wasn’t around as much considering the hours John had to work now.

They settled onto the sofa and soon enough, they had a bottle of wine and were already laying into their co-workers for being next to useless. Being together in this situation made her nervous but she was trying her best to cover it, but she could stop herself from playing with the cuffs of her jumper and chewing on her bottom lip. It wasn’t that he made her feel particularly nervous, it was that he made her feel things that made her feel nervous. Most of her life she had been dedicated to her craft, never having time to flirt or even think about dating, she was too busy perfecting her coding and engineering so she could one day make a difference in this world. Now she was in front of a man who she was sure she had feelings for but she wasn’t entirely sure if this was such a great idea.

Another thing that was making this situation a whole lot harder for her to navigate was that she knew his history and what had happened with his past relationships. His first wife had been a sweet woman who she hadn’t met, but John had told her that she had died in a freak accident and whenever she was mentioned or something related to exes came up, he would retreat and find it really hard to talk about. Whenever his second wife was brought up, he seethed with anger and felt betrayed by her. He never explicitly explained how he felt about them and wouldn’t open up and she just didn’t know if he was even ready for a relationship if he hadn’t really dealt with the past.

Maybe there was going to be a time when they would be able to talk about things and that would be when they could actually think about building something, but until that day, she was far too scared to try and build something with him. She had spent a lot of her childhood watching as her parents hid secrets from each other and never spoke the truth which just caused more arguments and eventually divorce. But being near him with no one else around made her want to slowly edge closer to him and see if he noticed, or gently brush his hand and see if they had another moment like they did in the diner. She had to have self-control and hold back until she thought they were both truly ready for anything like this.

“Have you picked up that hobby we talked about yet?” he asked smoothly.  
“Oh, uh… actually, I did. When I was younger, I was pretty into music, so I went back to my dad’s and got my old guitar, slowly been picking that back up. Just strumming and seeing what happens, just takes my mind off stuff, you know?”  
“Must be a nice change,” he smiled, “I can definitely see you on a stage, flowers in your hair, strumming a guitar, singing about whatever you heart desires,” he watched her for a moment.  
“I dunno, no one would wanna hear me sing,” she blushed, shying away slightly.  
“I would,” he looked up at her.  
“That’s just because you’re a supportive friend who cares,” she leant back on the sofa.  
“Maybe, but I also would love to hear what you’d have to sing,” he brushed a hand through his hair.  
“Stop it, you’re gonna make me blush,” she pushed him playfully.  
“Oh, well maybe I want you to blush,” he winked.  
She shoved him harder. “You are the absolute worst.”  
He started laughing. “Why thank you,” he pushed softly back.  
“You’re not supposed to take that as a compliment, you dumb dumb!” she protested with a pout.  
“Anything from you is a compliment,” he smirked ever so softly.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, it wasn’t supposed to be this moment where they were laughing and joking when she was gut punched. She could feel the knot tightening as neither of them could look away as their smiles faded and the only thing the other could see was their eyes. The way he leaned back on the sofa would make it so easy for her to just lean forward and kiss him, to finally give into that feeling that made her just want to snuggle up him and finally melt in his arms. She couldn’t give into it, she couldn’t let him in while she still knew that he was hurting inside because it would just make things messier for both of them. She let her head make the decision and pulled her leg under her and got a little more comfortable on the sofa.

“So, uh… where’s Angel?” she tried changing the subject.  
“Oh,” he sat up straight, caught off guard as he tried to find an answer. “She’s in bed, she tends to get tired quite quickly,” he lied coolly.  
“It must be really hard without your wife,” she said softly.  
There was a dead silence.  
“Jeez, I sure know how to say the worst thing… I’m so sorry.”  
“It… it’s fine,” he seemed almost stunned.  
“No, it’s not, I’m so sorry, maybe I should head out,” she leant forward to pick up her stuff.  
“Don’t be silly, you can stay, it’s fine, I don’t want you to leave,” his voice started to crack. “It has been really tough, sometimes I really don’t understand if I’ve done something wrong…” he looked away from her.  
“No, John, don’t be so hard on yourself,” she moved closer, taking his hand in hers. “You haven’t done anything wrong to deserve this if that’s what you’re thinking, the universe is just a cruel place.”  
“Then why was she ripped away from me?” he choked back tears.  
“I can’t answer that because there isn’t a reason, it just happened,” she put her arm around him while still hold onto his hand with her other hand.  
“I never told you what happened, did I?”  
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, we can change the subject entirely if you’re not ready.”  
“Angel isn’t a normal kid, she isn’t just a kid who runs around and plays with her toys and just does whatever kids are supposed to.”  
“John, what are you talking about?” her brow furrowed as she looked at him.  
“Angel killed her, she’s a siren.”  
Cassie blinked slowly, trying to take in the information.  
“She was taken by a bandit and we were trying to get her back, trying to reason with the kidnapper. Angel freaked out and the more emotional she got, the more her powers took control and because of it… a turret started firing, that’s what killed her. That’s how my wife died. And I don’t know why this happened. Why I ended up having to deal with all of this…” he pulled his hand away from her.  
“I… I wish there was something I could do.”  
“There’s nothing anyone can do,” he stood up, moving away from her completely. “I thought things would change, but my second wife… she couldn’t even stand to be around Angel.”  
“I’m so sorry,” she came up behind him, putting an arm around him.  
“She left after she found out about her and I wouldn’t do what she wanted…” he looked down at her.  
“Just because you wouldn’t send your own daughter away?”  
“She wanted me to kill Angel. She said someone with that much power that couldn’t be controlled shouldn’t…” he couldn’t figure out how to say this. “In case the wrong person uses her power, she shouldn’t have been around,” he bit his lower lip, trying so hard not to cry.  
“That is an awful thing to say…” her mind burned trying to say something better.  
“She honestly asked me to choose between her…” his voice cracked, finally letting out a few tears, “between her and killing my own child…” he wiped his nose with the cuff of his sleeve.  
“I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but she sounds like a terrible human being.”  
“I thought she loved me…”  
“She didn’t love you enough otherwise she would know how much Angel means to you and never ask you to choose to hurt your own daughter,” she rubbed his lower back, trying to soothe him. “Someone who loves you would support you with what you’re doing.”  
“It sounds stupid, but I feel like I’m not going to find that person any more.”  
“It sounds stupid because it’s not true, you’re an amazing man, you will find that person, I know you will,” she smiled softly.  
“How do you insult me and still make it sound like a compliment?” he choked a laugh through the snuffles.  
“Because it’s the truth and you know it’s coming from a place of love,” she gave him a little cheeky grin.  
“I…” he got lost in her sparkling hazel eyes, finally catching himself and coughing to reset, “sorry I unloaded that all onto you, that must have been a lot,” he tried to play it off, shrugging a little.  
“You don’t have to apologise at all, I care about you so much, and you know I’m always here to talk about whatever you want to,” she smiled softly as squeezed his hand.  
“You’re not going to run away now you know my little girl is a murderer?” he forced out a laugh to hide his pain.  
“Of course not, Angel is the only kid I’m ever going to like,” she tried to get a real smile out of him.  
He finally gave her a smile as he turned to her. “Yeah, but you barely even like humans,” he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.  
“I was gonna fight it, but you’re right,” she grinned brightly. “But at least you know I like you,” she nudged him playfully.

The two of them simply stood as they looked at each other, silence falling over them as emotions started to overwhelm them. He couldn’t help but want to lean down and kiss her in this moment, but held back out of fear that he was pushing her, almost like he had emotionally manipulated her to feel bad for him. She couldn’t help but notice how they were stuck in this moment just looking at each other but she didn’t want to take advantage of him after he had just been so open and real with her. She wanted nothing more that to make sure that he was okay and instead of reaching up for a kiss, she simply wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him in close. As she did that, he was taken aback for a moment and then sank into the hug, placing his chin on her head and just taking this all in right now.

Maybe the two of them were destined to simply dance around this forever and never finally tell each other how they felt. Every time they tried, it just never seemed like the right time. The two of them went back to the sofa and settled in once more with new glasses of wine. Maybe this was what they were supposed to be, their relationship was just supposed to be close and comfortable without the complications of romance, but John couldn’t help but want to be that extra bit more intimate with her. Hesitantly, he slipped his arm around her neck, bringing her in a bit closer and she accepted it with ease. Settling into his arm, she rested her head on his shoulder and brought her legs underneath her as she leaned closer into him.

“Is there anything you can’t do? Coding, playing guitar, and relationship advice, you really are a whole package,” John joked with her.  
“Oh I wouldn’t take too much relationship advice from me,” she chuckled slightly.  
“Why not, you seem to know what you’re talking about.”  
She laughed louder than she intended. “Not in the slightest, how could I? I’ve been single my entire life,” she shrugged as she looked away.  
“You…? You’ve really never dated? Not even in your younger years?” he seemed genuinely surprised.  
“I was always way too focused on my studies, you know?”  
“You’re telling me you were never a little heart breaker?”  
She snorted loudly. “I was way too busy breaking codes,” she grinned with a little hint of sadness.  
“I think it’s about time you did both,” he raised an eyebrow with a playful smirk.  
“Ah, I don’t wanna break any hearts, I would rather just heal one,” she looked up at him, feeling that pull again.  
“If anyone could do it, it would be you,” he watched her for a moment, smiling softly.

Yet again, they were stuck in this moment together where they lost all sense of the world around them and all that was there was the two of them. All they could do was just watch the other, trying to see if this was the right moment and trying to decide if a well placed kiss was the right thing to do right now. Was this real or was this because emotions were running high and their minds were clouded by the wine? Neither one was completely sure, trying their hardest to make a decision but the doubt and worry still stopped them. Cassie had to take the temptation away from her and started to get ready to leave.

“I really should head off, I need to get some rest so I can be vaguely human tomorrow, you know?” she chuckled nervously.  
“Yeah, you’re probably right, it’s getting late for a school night,” he scoffed sadly. “But I’ll see you tomorrow,” he smiled at her softly.  
“Bright and early of course, you better bring that coffee to me,” she giggled.  
“Oh, you know it, Cassie-Bean,” he grinned.

There was a moment of silence between them as if they were mourning the passing of yet another opportunity they had to finally start this relationship together, but maybe this really wasn’t the right time. She pulled her bag onto her lap and just double checked that she had everything and then slung the shoulder bag over herself. With a few quick movements, she got up and started to make her way over to the fast travel station he had installed in his house to make travel to work even quicker, she had to admire his dedication to Hyperion. She bid him a good night and stood up on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss on the cheek and John was once again left alone in a haze of confusion.

* * *

Cassie’s entire body stiffened up as she heard the door behind her and every part of her was filled with dread, knowing what was coming next. Footsteps echoed through the empty room and she held her breath for a moment, almost breaking down when she recognised the footsteps as Jack’s, exhaling to steady herself and make sure she was ready for this. She typed slowly, trying to make it look like she was working hard, but her brain unable to completely concentrate. She stopped completely when she could feel his breath on her neck and closed her eyes, once again hoping that this was all some sick nightmare and she would wake up and everything would be fine.

“How’s it going, you finished yet sweetcheeks?” his tone bright and chatty.  
“N-no, not yet, but I have got a lot-” she started.  
“I thought you were the best,” he snarled. “Well, looks like I’ll have to follow through with that promise, huh?” he smirked darkly.  
“Wait, no, I’ll do anything, just… don’t hurt anyone else, please,” she pleaded as she looked up at him.  
“I dunno, I did have my eye on a real nice little village that would really look better with a few moonshots to it.”  
“You sick bastard!” she got to her feet and swung for his face in one smooth movement.  
He caught her wrist with ease. “Language, Cassie-Bean, you know how I hate profanity,” he shook his head as he spun her around while twisting her arm up her back.  
“Don’t you dare kill anyone innocent,” she snarled, ignoring the burn in her elbow.  
“Innocent, pah! No one on Pandora is innocent and you know it,” his voice dropped into that dark tone as he whispered in her ear.  
“You know I’m working and I’ll finish the code, just don’t fire on anyone, please.”  
He slammed her head onto the desk, bending her over. “Well, what else am I supposed to with all my spare time?” he held her neck, pinning her to the desk.  
“Why don’t you do something more productive? Like killing yourself?” the rage burned inside of her.  
He wrenched her arm painfully. “Oh Cassandra, you and I both know I’m too attractive to consider killing myself.”  
“Why don’t you let me do it for you?” she tried to free her hand from his grip.  
“You wouldn’t have the guts to do it,” he smirked.

All of the life drained from her body as she realised that he was completely right, no matter how much she really hated him, she wouldn’t be able to kill him. She couldn’t even react to the way his hand moved from around her neck to finally start to unbutton her trousers, just giving up on fighting him off since she knew it would be futile. Instead, her eyes just filled with tears, jumping slightly at the thud of her clothes hitting the floor, and then involuntarily flinched at the sound of his zipper. She felt there was nothing she could do to stop this and so she just let it happen.

He couldn’t stop himself from what he was doing, impulse taking over as her finally slipped her underwear down as well. He licked his lips, a tiny voice telling him it shouldn’t have been this way, but he craved her so much that he couldn’t stop from slipping his erect cock inside of her, a groan erupting in his throat. He let go of her arm and both hands gripped her hips roughly, slamming into her repeatedly, all the years of pent up desires for her seeming to rest on this one moment. He moved her hair from her face, leaning down and kissing her neck roughly, the lust making it sloppy and more of a bite than anything else.

Everything seemed to stop, like this moment was never going to end and that she was going to be stuck in this torture forever. She closed her eyes intensely tight, the tears falling from them as she tried her hardest not to show him how much this hurt. He let out a loud grunt as his body juddered as he finally came, panting in her ear as he tried to recover as quickly as possible. In a flurry of motion, he cleaned himself up, straighten out, dressed and then left the room. Cassie stayed on the desk, her body unable to move as she simply dissociated away from this moment.

Under the orders of Jack, two Hyperion guards came in and redressed Cassandra and started to pull her up to her feet. When it was obvious that she couldn’t hold her own weight or even register what was happening, they picked her up with no care and carried her back to her cell. Instead of putting her down gently, they let her limp body fall to the floor and then just left her there. She barely moved, her palm was pressed to the floor as she placed her cheek on her hand and then all she could do was stare at the small rivets. Nothing could bring her mind back to functioning in this current state and so she accepted the numbness.


	3. Chapter 3

This time, Jack didn’t even both to grace her with his presence, instead, Hyperion guards escorted her half alive body to the room with the solitary computer and set her down and left the room. She heard the door click behind her and sighed heavily, knowing that all she could do was carry on with the task Jack had given her or he’d pick out some innocent group of people to murder. With a deep exhale, she tied up her hair once more and turned the computer on, trying to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach so she could just get on with this.

The glow of the computer screen gave her such a strange feeling because the most time she had spent in front of one was while she was at Hyperion, tapping away next to a man who made her feel so accepted and comfortable and now that was all gone. The John that she had known who was bringing her coffee and telling terrible jokes was someone that didn’t seem to exist any more and she couldn’t figure out what she had done to lose him. But she knew what she had done, she had left him and that’s why she lost him. Maybe she did deserve all that was happening to her because she blew a comfortable future on some stupid dream of being someone who could be her own person. So, she swallowed her emotions and carried on working on the code as if she was back in her comfortable job at Hyperion and the world wasn’t on fire.

* * *

Cassandra was running late, but for once, she wasn’t just sauntering in and pretending this was the time she was supposed to be coming in. This time, she was flustered and frazzled, walking as quickly as she could without running and gripping all of her papers close to her chest. As she got to her desk, everything fell with a tumble and multiple thuds which were quickly followed by a frustrated huff. No one even looked up and she didn’t expect much more, though she did think a quip from John was coming and instead heard nothing. She tried not to take it too personal as maybe he was just in his own world right now, so she busied herself with trying to get things straight.

Then there was calm as she finally settled down in her chair and had all her papers in the right order. Tying her hair back, she scanned the desk to see what she needed to do next and got to work and was quickly lost in the glow of the computer and the tapping of the keyboards around her. It wasn’t long before she was completely lost in her work and everyone else around her simply faded away, including John. She ignored the strange tug at her that felt something was off today and just carried on working, after all, she didn’t have time for emotions when she was on Hyperion time.

Soon, she found it harder to concentrate on the work she was doing and her coding turning into a diary entry as her brain was trying to tell her to do something. She stopped typing and looked at what she had written in her strange communication with herself. Something was wrong with John and she needed to address it before it became too consuming considering it was already affecting her work. Highlighting and deleting the diatribe, she stepped away from her desk and grabbed some coffee and came back, placing one cup in front of him with a little smile.

“Isn’t this the wrong way around?” he replied sheepishly.  
“Maybe, but you look like you could use it.”  
“Sorry, I seem to be off my game today,” he rubbed the back of his neck.  
“We all have those days, after all, I was late in case you didn’t notice,” she chuckled playfully.  
“Another sleepless night?” he asked softly.  
“I… uh- I fell asleep writing a song and forgot to set my alarm, and this is the result,” she felt somewhat embarrassed.  
“Does that mean that you’ll soon be performing and letting me hear everything you’ve got?” he asked with a little bit of excitement.  
“Maybe, I dunno, it might not be as good as you’re expecting,” she looked away, playing with the hem of her shirt.  
“I’m sure it’ll be amazing,” he said, getting caught gazing at her.  
She blushed ever so slightly. “Maybe, you’ll have to wait and see.”  
“Well, I look forward to it.”  
“I don’t wanna get your hopes up too much though, it might be awful,” she chuckled. “How was your night?”  
“Same old, sat in my underwear and drank a bottle of wine.”  
“Steady there Jacky-boy, you’ll find it hard to stop me coming over if you keep talking like that,” she teased.  
“I wouldn’t have any objections if you wanted to spend more time with me and my wine collection,” he gave a coy smile.  
“You really are a terrible influence,” she shook her head.  
“Hey, if I can get alcohol in you, maybe it’ll mean you’ll sing that song for me,” he grinned.  
“Oh boy, you are ruthless,” she giggled. Yet still they hadn’t addressed the weird tension between them. She took a deep breath and looked at him. “But are you alright? You… you’ve seemed kinda… off?”  
“Yeah,” his voice way higher pitched than he wanted it to be, “I’m fine,” his voice was still stuck about two octaves too high.  
“Come on, we both know that’s a lie, what’s going on?” she looked at him seriously.  
“We can’t talk here, you know that,” he snorted.  
“Lunch, me and you, somewhere quiet, alright?” she almost ordered.  
He gave in with a breathy sigh. “Fine, I’ll bring the coffee,” he said with a little smile.

Cassandra gave him a defiant nod, took a sip of her coffee and then went back to her work now that her head was a little bit clearer. John, on the other hand, took a few more moments to get back to work. At first, his gaze stayed on her for a little longer as he tried to comprehend how he would even have this real discussion with her. In this moment, they were friends and everything was going to be okay, but after this lunch, there was a chance that he was just going to ruin everything that they had between them. He slowly turned back to his computer and started typing but not able to get completely back into the swing of it just yet, suddenly being more consumed by the ticking down of the clock.

Finally, lunch had come and instead of just powering through it like she usually did, Cassandra carefully made sure that every document was saved at least five times and then locked the computer so no one could steal her work. Once that was all done, she turned to face John who was gingerly looking back at her with the lunch in his hand, ready to find their quiet spot to dine. Usually, he would lunch alone and she would eat at her desk so she didn’t have to stop working and let her brain engage with her thoughts until she got home, but today, she knew this needed to be sorted out. It had hung in the air for at least a week now and it was getting hard to just ignore.

They made their way through the halls with some small talk, just trying to take the edge of tension that had seemed to be building between them. John couldn’t deny that maybe he was taking this thing a little bit harder than he should have been, but he really felt like he’d missed his chance to ever truly be with her. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but his own because he was the one who decided to tell her a sob story and make her pity him instead of fall in love with him. They stopped to grab their coffee and then went to the outside courtyard, finding one of the benches away from most of the other people and settled down. He carefully unpacked the lunch and revealed today’s perfectly presented sushi that he’d made at home after watching a few videos on the EchoNet, it didn’t look too bad for a first attempt.

“Okay, now you’re just showing off,” she protested at the beautiful food.  
He laughed nervously. “It’s not that impressive, it’s just some simple sushi,” he shrugged.  
“You’d be saying the same as me if it was yet another mystery meat sandwich,” she snorted.  
“Looks like I need to help you get some culinary skills,” he smiled brightly.  
“I’m not gonna oppose that in the slightest,” she grinned with that twinkle in her eyes that always left him breathless. But it quickly disappeared when she looked at him seriously. “Now, what’s going on in that big ol’ brain of yours?” she asked softer.  
“Nothing, honestly, I’m fine,” he lied badly with a shrug.  
“John, look who you’re talking to, please, what’s up?” she took his hand from across the table.  
“Honestly?” he looked at her, unable to hold eye contact, looking away almost instantly. “I feel like I messed up and I don’t know how to fix it…”  
“What do you think you messed up?” she asked softly, squeezing his hand.  
He looked at her hand and then looked away. “Between us… I felt like we had something really fun and simple and I just… I dumped all of that stuff on you that you didn’t need to know, and now it’s weird between us,” he sighed heavily.  
“Hey, no, I don’t think that. I dunno… maybe I have been a bit distant? But it’s not because of you, it’s because of my own stuff… stuff in my head.”  
“What do you mean?” he asked as he finally looked at her.  
“The fun thing we had between us has always made me feel like there’s something more between us, you know? But look at me, I’m a mess,” she laughed awkwardly. “That night you opened up to me, I didn’t know how to react because I don’t know if you felt that too and there was something and that I should have done something or said something because that was the moment. But then was that just me taking advantage of a man with a broken heart and I froze,” she looked down at the table, waiting for his reply.  
“But you acted like I hadn’t said anything to you, it all just went back the way it was and I thought it was because you didn’t know how to treat me any more… and that hurt,” his voice went quiet.  
“Because I don’t…” she said honestly. “I love having you as a friend and you’re the only person around here I can hang out with and not want to jam my fingers into a socket. Maybe it’s selfish, but I don’t wanna lose that, so I don’t take risks. I don’t do things that can jeopardise that because what if I do and that ruins what we have…” she trailed off, taking her hand back and starting to fidget with them.  
“You know that you could tell me to kill myself and I would still be your friend. There’s nothing you could say that would ruin this friendship.”  
She took a deep breath in. “I like you… a lot. All I wanted to do that night was kiss you, but it was inappropriate and wouldn’t have been fair to take advantage of you like that,” she looked back up at him, terror filling her eyes.  
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I thought the exact same thing. I could dump an emotional story on you and then kiss you, it wasn’t the right time.”  
“Really? You… you really wanted to kiss me too?”  
“Cassie-Bean, I always want to kiss you,” he took her hand across the table. “But I just assumed you didn’t like me in that way.”  
She snorted. “I’ve kinda had a crush on you since we were placed next to each other, I just… relationships are completely foreign to me,” she sounded extremely nervous. She looked like she was about to say something else and then shook her head, shooting him an anxious smile.  
“What is it?” he encouraged.  
“I’ve only ever seen romance destroy people, and I’m just scared. I was happy to simply love my friends and be a supportive presence, you know?”  
“Perhaps those people just weren’t right for each other. Let me prove to you romance doesn’t have to end badly.”  
“I just don’t want to lose you.”  
“Do you trust me?”  
“Of course I do.”  
“Then trust me with this, we’ll be alright,” he squeezed her hand, bringing it closer to him.

With those words, she melted and couldn’t stop the blush spreading under her freckles. Maybe it was some kind of childish hope that things would be okay because he said so, but she didn’t care. For the first time, she was ready to take a risk and do something she wasn’t comfortable with so she could finally be happy. Something about the way he smiled while he held onto her hand suddenly gave her this feeling that they were the only two people around and they could take on anything together. A little smile crept onto her lips as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it softly. Things weren’t going back to the way they were, but at least now they weren’t going to be tense and awkward.

* * *

Cassie flinched as the door opened, the dread draining all of the life out of her as she froze, unable to type anymore as she waited for him to speak. She could hear him drawing closer and she began to feel sick, that knot in her stomach getting tighter with every single step. She had never really had to face losing the John she knew and now she wasn’t just facing it, but being aggressively confronted by it. They didn’t end on the best of terms, but there wasn’t a chance that violence or retribution would have come next, at least not from how she saw things. Yet now, the touch of his hand on her shoulder almost made her shiver, a reaction she never thought would happen with him.

“Give me an update I wanna hear, pumpkin,” he chirped.  
“It’s nearly done, I just need-” she was interrupted by his fist hitting the desk.  
“That... that’s not what I wanted to hear. I thought you were talented,” he sneered.  
“You and I both know this is too much work for one person to complete in even a week.”  
“I thought considering the steaks here, you would work a bit harder.”  
“I’m trying as hard as I can, you can’t do this, innocent people don’t have to die because of your need to punish me.”  
“Maybe you’re right, they shouldn’t suffer because of your inadequacies,” his grip tightened on her shoulder.  
“Don’t do this,” he voice shrank.  
“Don’t tell me what to do.”

His hand moved from her shoulder and to around her neck as he pulled her to her feet, the grip tightening as she resisted. As he pulled her closer, she saw the contempt in his eyes, the burn of hatred that she really just couldn’t comprehend. Futilely, she tried to push him away, but her weak body just made him laugh, bending her over the desk once more. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t get from under him, so she concentrated on trying to stop him from taking off her pants, her hands trying to block his. She was getting somewhere until he grabbed a handful of her hair and then slammed her head down, stunning her for a moment and grabbing her wrists painfully. It didn’t take long for him to get her undressed and right in the position he wanted her in.

His actions were violent and angry as he penetrated her roughly, his grip on her hair tightening as he continually slammed his body against hers. Instead of the tears forming in her eyes, nothing happened, her mind completely shutting down and being numb to the whole situation. This time she wasn’t even able to consider what was the past or how there was a possibility she had brought this on herself. Was this just going to be part of the daily routine? As the dissociation set in, everything left her and all she could focus on was the light brown coffee stain on the desk and the way it shifted in and out of focus with the motion. Then there was a loud grunt and it stopped.

“You get one more day, kitten,” he leant over and whispered in her ear. “Alright,” he announced, leaving the room, “clean up the mess in there,” he snapped to the Hyperion guards.

They went back into the room and redressed her, but this time, they didn’t have to drag her back to her cell, she was able to walk on her own two feet in somewhat of a daze. With a hard shove, they threw her back into the cell and she stood in the small room as she studied the walls. This was it. She didn’t have anyone left in the world that cared about her enough to come and rescue her since all those people were dead in a cave in the middle of no where. No one would even find the bodies. Were they even dead when she had been taken or were they still alive and they wished that she would come back to rescue them? She slumped in a heap on the floor, everything starting to overwhelm her again and the tears finally flowing.

“Cassandra?” Angel’s voice echoed around her mind.  
“A-Angel…” she stumbled as she tried to stop crying, “you’re still here?” she asked softly.  
“Of course I am, I really want to help you, however I can.”  
“There isn’t anything you can do,” she said firmly.  
“There are vault hunters that I can send here to free you, the Crimson Raiders can help you and make sure that you’re okay.”  
“I know you’re trying, but Jack will figure it out and I can’t put you in his firing line.”  
“He’s hurting you and I want you to be okay…” her voice cracked ever so slightly.  
“I will be, done worry, I’m a tough cookie,” Cassandra tried to reassure her but knew it was probably futile.  
“I know you are, but I would rather you didn’t have to be…”  
“I’ll make you a deal, if I’m escaping or being rescued, you’re coming with me,” she said seriously.  
“That’s going to be really hard and you know it…”  
“Maybe so, Angel, but I’m not leaving you here with him, I’m not leaving without you,” she said firmly.  
“This isn’t up for debate, is it?”  
“Not in the slightest. If I knew this was how he was treating you, I would have been here sooner and busted you out with my bare hands if I had to.”  
“Really?” Angel seemed caught off guard.  
“I never really agreed with what Jack was doing… I understood he wanted to protect you and maybe protect others, but the solution is never to shut someone away forever…” Cassandra got caught on her words for a moment. “I should have done something… I’m sorry.”  
“Cassandra, you don’t have to apologise to me, ever. You’ve never done wrong to me.”  
“Then why do I still feel bad?”  
“Because you’re looking at this with hindsight, you wouldn’t have known any of this stuff when you were in the moment, so you wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. So please don’t torture yourself.”  
“I can’t promise anything,” she forced a chuckle.  
“You’re going to need rest, let me at least make things more comfortable for you.”

There was a moment of silence before the door opened once more and instinctively, Cassandra moved away from the door and stared up, waiting to see who it was. A loader bot stamped into the cell and offered a blanket and a pillow to her with the information that this was indeed from Angel. A bright smile, one she hadn’t had for what felt like years, spread across her lips as she took the items from the loader, and then watching as it stamped out of the room. Curling back up on the floor, she put the pillow under her head and once she felt a little more comfortable, she put the blanket over herself.

“Thank you, my sweet darling,” Cassandra cooed to Angel.


	4. Chapter 4

This time, Jack didn’t even both to grace her with his presence, instead, Hyperion guards escorted her half alive body to the room with the solitary computer and set her down and left. She heard the door click behind her and sighed heavily, knowing that all she could do was carry on with the task Jack had given her or he’d pick out some innocent group of people to murder. With a deep exhale, she tied up her messy blonde hair once more and turned the computer on, trying to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach so she could just get on with this.

The glow of the computer screen gave her such a strange feeling because the most time she had spent in front of one was while she was at Hyperion, tapping away next to a man who made her feel so accepted and comfortable and now that was all gone. The John that she had known was gone, the man who was bringing her coffee and telling terrible jokes, that was someone that didn’t exist any more and she couldn’t figure out what she had done to lose him. But she knew what she had done, she had left him and that’s why she lost him. Maybe she did deserve all that was happening to her because she blew a comfortable future on some stupid dream of being someone who could be her own person. So, she swallowed her emotions and carried on working on the code as if she was back in her comfortable job at Hyperion and the world wasn’t on fire.

* * *

Cassandra was running late, but for once, she wasn’t just sauntering in and pretending this was the time she was supposed to be coming in. This time, she was flustered and frazzled, walking as quickly as she could without running and gripping all of her papers close to her chest. As she got to her desk, everything fell with a tumble and multiple thuds which were quickly followed by a frustrated huff. No one even looked up and she didn’t expect much more, though she did think a quip from John was coming and instead heard nothing. She tried not to take it too personal as maybe he was just in his own world right now, so she busied herself with trying to get things straight.

Then there was calm as she finally settled down in her chair and had all her papers in the right order. Tying her hair back, she scanned the desk to see what she needed to do next and got to work and was quickly lost in the glow of the computer and the tapping of the keyboards around her. It wasn’t long before she was completely lost in her work and everyone else around her simply faded away, including John. She ignored the strange tug at her that felt something was off today and just carried on working, after all, she didn’t have time for emotions when she was on Hyperion time.

Soon, she found it harder to concentrate on the work she was doing and her coding turning into a diary entry as her brain was trying to tell her to do something. She stopped typing and looked at what she had written in her strange communication with herself. Something was wrong with John and she needed to address it before it became even more consuming considering it was already affecting her work. Highlighting and deleting the diatribe, she stepped away from her desk and grabbed some coffee and came back, placing one cup in front of him with a little smile.

“Isn’t this the wrong way around?” he replied sheepishly.  
“Maybe, but you look like you could use it.”  
“Sorry, I seem to be off my game today,” he rubbed the back of his neck.  
“We all have those days, after all, I was late in case you didn’t notice,” she chuckled playfully.  
“Another sleepless night?” he asked softly.  
“I… uh- I fell asleep writing a song and forgot to set my alarm, and this is the result,” she felt somewhat embarrassed.  
“Does that mean that you’ll soon be performing and letting me hear everything you’ve got?” he asked with a little bit of excitement.  
“Maybe, I dunno, it might not be as good as you’re expecting,” she looked away, playing with the hem of her shirt.  
“I’m sure it’ll be amazing,” he said, getting caught gazing at her.  
She blushed ever so slightly. “Maybe, you’ll have to wait and see.”  
“Well, I look forward to it.”  
“I don’t wanna get your hopes up too much though, it might be awful,” she chuckled. “How was your night?”  
“Same old, sat in my underwear and drank a bottle of wine.”  
“Steady there Jacky-boy, you’ll find it hard to stop me coming over if you keep talking like that,” she teased.  
“I wouldn’t have any objections if you wanted to spend more time with me and my wine collection,” he gave a coy smile.  
“You really are a terrible influence,” she shook her head.  
“Hey, if I can get alcohol in you, maybe it’ll mean you’ll sing that song for me,” he grinned.  
“Oh boy, you are ruthless,” she giggled. Yet still they hadn’t addressed the weird tension between them. She took a deep breath and looked at him. “But are you alright? You… you’ve seemed kinda… off?”  
“Yeah,” his voice way higher pitched than he wanted it to be, “I’m fine,” his voice was still stuck about two octaves too high.  
“Come on, we both know that’s a lie, what’s going on?” she looked at him seriously.  
“We can’t talk here, you know that,” he snorted.  
“Lunch, me and you, somewhere quiet, alright?” she almost ordered.  
He gave in with a breathy sigh. “Fine, I’ll bring the coffee,” he said with a little smile.

Cassandra gave him a defiant nod, took a sip of her coffee and then went back to her work now that her head was a little bit clearer. John, on the other hand, took a few more moments to get back to work. At first, his gaze stayed on her for a little longer as he tried to comprehend how he would even have this real discussion with her. In this moment, they were friends and everything was going to be okay, but after this lunch, there was a chance that he was just going to ruin everything that they had between them. He slowly turned back to his computer and started typing but not able to get completely back into the swing of it just yet, suddenly being more consumed by the ticking down of the clock.

Finally, lunch had come and instead of just powering through it like she usually did, Cassandra carefully made sure that every document was saved at least five times and then locked the computer so no one could steal or sabotage her work. Once that was all done, she turned to face John who was gingerly looking back at her with the lunch in his hand, ready to find their quiet spot to dine. Usually, he would lunch alone and she would eat at her desk so she didn’t have to stop working and let her brain engage with her thoughts until she got home, but today, she knew this needed to be sorted out. It had hung in the air for at least a week now and it was getting hard to just ignore.

They made their way through the halls with some small talk, just trying to take the edge of tension that had seemed to be building between them. John couldn’t deny that maybe he was taking this thing a little bit harder than he should have been, but he really felt like he’d missed his chance to ever truly be with her. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but his own because he was the one who decided to tell her a sob story and make her pity him instead of fall in love with him. They stopped to grab their coffee and then went to the outside courtyard, finding one of the benches away from most of the other people and settled down. He carefully unpacked the lunch and revealed today’s perfectly presented sushi that he’d made at home after watching a few videos on the EchoNet, it didn’t look too bad for a first attempt.

“Okay, now you’re just showing off,” she protested at the beautiful food.  
He laughed nervously. “It’s not that impressive, it’s just some simple sushi,” he shrugged.  
“You’d be saying the same as me if it was yet another mystery meat sandwich,” she snorted.  
“Looks like I need to help you get some culinary skills,” he smiled brightly.  
“I’m not gonna oppose that in the slightest,” she grinned with that twinkle in her eyes that always left him breathless. But it quickly disappeared when she looked at him seriously. “Now, what’s going on in that big ol’ brain of yours?” she asked softer.  
“Nothing, honestly, I’m fine,” he lied badly with a shrug.  
“John, look who you’re talking to, please, what’s up?” she took his hand from across the table.  
“Honestly?” he looked at her, unable to hold eye contact, looking away almost instantly. “I feel like I messed up and I don’t know how to fix it…”  
“What do you think you messed up?” she asked softly, squeezing his hand.  
He looked at her hand and then looked away. “Between us… I felt like we had something really fun and simple and I just… I dumped all of that stuff on you that you didn’t need to know, and now it’s weird between us,” he sighed heavily.  
“Hey, no, I don’t think that. I dunno… maybe I have been a bit distant? But it’s not because of you, it’s because of my own stuff… stuff in my head.”  
“What do you mean?” he asked as he finally looked at her.  
“The fun thing we had between us has always made me feel like there’s something more between us, you know? But look at me, I’m a mess,” she laughed awkwardly. “That night you opened up to me, I didn’t know how to react because I don’t know if you felt that too and there was something and that I should have done something or said something because that was the moment. But then was that just me taking advantage of a man with a broken heart and I froze,” she looked down at the table, waiting for his reply.  
“But you acted like I hadn’t said anything to you, it all just went back the way it was and I thought it was because you didn’t know how to treat me any more… and that hurt,” his voice went quiet.  
“Because I don’t…” she said honestly. “I love having you as a friend and you’re the only person around here I can hang out with and not want to jam my fingers into a socket. Maybe it’s selfish, but I don’t wanna lose that, so I don’t take risks. I don’t do things that can jeopardise that because what if I do and that ruins what we have…” she trailed off, taking her hand back and starting to fidget with them.  
“You know that you could tell me to kill myself and I would still be your friend. There’s nothing you could say that would ruin this friendship.”  
She took a deep breath in. “I like you… a lot. All I wanted to do that night was kiss you, but it was inappropriate and wouldn’t have been fair to take advantage of you like that,” she looked back up at him, terror filling her eyes.  
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I thought the exact same thing. I could dump an emotional story on you and then kiss you, it wasn’t the right time.”  
“Really? You… you really wanted to kiss me too?”  
“Cassie-Bean, I always want to kiss you,” he took her hand across the table. “But I just assumed you didn’t like me in that way.”  
She snorted. “I’ve kinda had a crush on you since we were placed next to each other, I just… relationships are completely foreign to me,” she sounded extremely nervous. She looked like she was about to say something else and then shook her head, shooting him an anxious smile.  
“What is it?” he encouraged.  
“I’ve only ever seen romance destroy people, and I’m just scared. I was happy to simply love my friends and be a supportive presence, you know?”  
“Perhaps those people just weren’t right for each other. Let me prove to you romance doesn’t have to end badly.”  
“I just don’t want to lose you.”  
“Do you trust me?”  
“Of course I do.”  
“Then trust me with this, we’ll be alright,” he squeezed her hand, bringing it closer to him.

With those words, she melted and couldn’t stop the blush spreading under her freckles. Maybe it was some kind of childish hope that things would be okay because he said so, but she didn’t care. For the first time, she was ready to take a risk and do something she wasn’t comfortable with so she could finally be happy. Something about the way he smiled while he held onto her hand suddenly gave her this feeling that they were the only two people around and they could take on anything together. A little smile crept onto her lips as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it softly. Things weren’t going back to the way they were, but at least now they weren’t going to be tense and awkward.

* * *

Cassie flinched as the door opened, the dread draining all of the life out of her as she froze, unable to type anymore as she waited for him to speak. She could hear him drawing closer and she began to feel sick, that knot in her stomach getting tighter with every single step. She had never really had to face losing the John she knew and now she wasn’t just facing it, but being aggressively confronted by it. They didn’t end on the best of terms, but there was a chance that violence or retribution wouldn’t have come next, at least not from how she saw things. Yet now, the touch of his hand on her shoulder almost made her shudder, a reaction she never thought would happen with him.

“Give me an update I wanna hear, pumpkin,” he chirped.  
“It’s nearly done, I just need-” she was interrupted by his fist hitting the desk.  
“That... that’s not what I wanted to hear. I thought you were talented,” he sneered.  
“You and I both know this is too much work for one person to complete in even a week.”  
“I thought considering the steaks here, you would work a bit harder.”  
“I’m trying as hard as I can, you can’t do this, innocent people don’t have to die because of your need to punish me.”  
“Maybe you’re right, they shouldn’t suffer because of your inadequacies,” his grip tightened on her shoulder.  
“Don’t do this,” he voice shrank.  
“Don’t tell me what to do.”

His hand moved from her shoulder and to around her neck as he pulled her to her feet, the grip tightening as she resisted. As he pulled her closer, she saw the contempt in his eyes, the burn of hatred that she really just couldn’t comprehend. Futilely, she tried to push him away, but her weak body just made him laugh, bending her over the desk once more. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t get from under him, so she concentrated on trying to stop him from taking off her pants, her hands trying to block his. She was getting somewhere until he grabbed a handful of her hair and then slammed her head down, stunning her for a moment and grabbing her wrists painfully. It didn’t take long for him to get her undressed and right in the position he wanted her in.

His actions were violent and angry as he penetrated her roughly, his grip on her hair tightening as he continually slammed his body against hers. Instead of the tears forming in her eyes, nothing happened, her mind completely shutting down and being numb to the whole situation. This time she wasn’t even able to consider what was the past or how there was a possibility she had brought this on herself. Was this just going to be part of the daily routine? As the dissociation set in, everything left her and all she could focus on was the light brown coffee stain on the desk and the way it shifted in and out of focus with the motion. Then there was a loud grunt and it stopped.

“You get one more day, kitten,” he leant over and whispered in her ear. “Alright,” he announced, leaving the room, “clean up the mess in there,” he snapped to the Hyperion guards.

They went back into the room and redressed her, but this time, they didn’t have to drag her back to her cell, she was able to walk on her own two feet in somewhat of a daze. With a hard shove, they threw her back into the cell and she stood in the small room as she studied the walls. This was it. She didn’t have anyone left in the world that cared about her enough to come and rescue her since all those people were dead in a cave in the middle of no where. No one would even find the bodies. Were they even dead when she had been taken or were they still alive and they wished that she would come back to rescue them? She slumped in a heap on the floor, everything starting to overwhelm her again and the tears finally flowing.

“Cassandra?” Angel’s voice echoed around her mind.  
“A-Angel…” she stumbled as she tried to stop crying, “you’re still here?” she asked softly.  
“Of course I am, I really want to help you, however I can.”  
“There isn’t anything you can do,” she said firmly.  
“There are vault hunters that I can send here to free you, the Crimson Raiders can help you and make sure that you’re okay.”  
“I know you’re trying, but Jack will figure it out and I can’t put you in his firing line.”  
“He’s hurting you and I want you to be okay…” her voice cracked ever so slightly.  
“I will be, done worry, I’m a tough cookie,” Cassandra tried to reassure her but knew it was probably futile.  
“I know you are, but I would rather you didn’t have to be…”  
“I’ll make you a deal, if I’m escaping or being rescued, you’re coming with me,” she said seriously.  
“That’s going to be really hard and you know it…”  
“Maybe so, Angel, but I’m not leaving you here with him, I’m not leaving without you,” she said firmly.  
“This isn’t up for debate, is it?”  
“Not in the slightest. If I knew this was how he was treating you, I would have been here sooner and busted you out with my bare hands if I had to.”  
“Really?” Angel seemed caught off guard.  
“I never really agreed with what Jack was doing… I understood he wanted to protect you and maybe protect others, but the solution is never to shut someone away forever…” Cassandra got caught on her words for a moment. “I should have done something… I’m sorry.”  
“Cassandra, you don’t have to apologise to me, ever. You’ve never done wrong to me.”  
“Then why do I still feel bad?”  
“Because you’re looking at this with hindsight, you wouldn’t have known any of this stuff when you were in the moment, so you wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. Please don’t torture yourself.”  
“I can’t promise anything,” she forced a chuckle.  
“You’re going to need rest, let me at least make things more comfortable for you.”

There was a moment of silence before the door opened once more and instinctively, Cassandra moved away from the door and stared up, waiting to see who it was. A loader bot stamped into the cell and offered a blanket and a pillow to her with the information that this was indeed from Angel. A bright smile, one she hadn’t had for what felt like years, spread across her lips as she took the items from the loader, and then watching as it stamped out of the room. Curling back up on the floor, she put the pillow under her head and once she felt a little more comfortable, she put the blanket over herself.

“Thank you, my sweet darling,” Cassandra cooed to Angel.


	5. Chapter 5

Nerves bubbled up inside of Cassandra and she really couldn’t figure out if it was because she was excited or because she was terrified, but either way, she was feeling unready for this. All of the times she had seen Angel before, it had been fleeting moments before she was ushered into a room and told to get some rest, or the two of them were watched over intensely by John with almost nothing around them. Part of her just assumed that it was because he was an overprotective father who was terrified because he didn’t want to make any mistakes now he didn’t have a partner to help him out. And she was partly right, but obviously the fact that Angel had her siren powers added an extra layer of worry and problems for the poor stressed man.

She knew that she couldn’t walk into this situation and just fix everything straight away, but she hoped that she could at least be of some use to support the two of them. As she breathed out slowly, she felt John’s hand taking hers and she looked up at him with a little smile, still unable to hide all of those nerves inside of her. With a little squeeze, she felt some of it fade away, following behind him as he lead her towards the small room that he had created especially for Angel to live in and be safe from the outside world. Angel may have been in danger, but Cassandra did hate this being her life, wishing that she could live like a normal kid since this was the only time you could just live with no problems. That had been stolen from her by something completely out of her control and, perhaps because of her own childhood, Cassie just wanted to give her some joy if she could.

As the door opened, it didn’t take long for the excited child to bound over and wrap her arms around her father’s legs with a little giggle. John smiled as he patted his daughter on the head and watched as Cassie bent down for a big hug from Angel. Watching the two of them interact in this way, even though she knew what his daughter was capable of, warmed his heart more than he thought anything ever would. He couldn’t explain it, but he was hit with a sudden wave of emotion, something that was telling him this was all going to be okay and that they were going to get through this because they had each other. It had been quite a while since he had felt even a pang of optimism about all of this but this tableau was bringing it all into place.

“Hello, little Angel,” Cassie couldn’t help but coo over the adorable child.  
“Cassandra!” Angel replied in her adorable sing-song tone. “You finally got a day off to spend time with me, huh?” she pouted playfully.  
“Yeah, me and your dad finally got enough work done to be allowed to have a day off,” she grinned. “And of course I wanted to spend my day off with the cutest button,” she poked Angel’s nose.  
Angel blushed brightly with a big grin. “And it’s just gonna be us, right? You won’t suddenly have to run off to work?” her tone became a little sadder.  
“Well, I dunno about your dad, but I’m not going anywhere,” she smiled.  
“The only way I’m leaving this room is to get ice cream,” John nodded firmly.  
“We’re getting ice cream!” Angel was extremely excited.  
“Woah, I mean…” he laughed nervously, “ice cream for breakfast probably isn’t a great idea.”  
“Why not?” Angel pouted.  
“Yeah John, why not?” Cassie teased.  
“Well… because… you know,” he was flustered. “Fine, you want ice cream for breakfast, I’ll go get ice cream,” he sighed, giving in.  
“Aw, Jacky-boy, you really are the best,” Cassie grinned.  
“Thank you daddy!”

Cassie looked between the two other people in the room and smiled, her heart filling up with so much love, unable to look away from John as he left the room. Taking the step for the two of them to think about dating had started to make her feel more comfortable around him, even though they hadn’t taken a step to be intimate or even had their first kiss yet, but knowing that if she did feel the urge, it wouldn’t make things awkward between them made things a lot easier on her now. Sitting down on the floor cross legged, she looked over at Angel finally who was smart enough to already start to put the pieces together.

“Now the boring old man is gone, how about we do something I used to do when I was a kid?” she asked, distracting Angel before she could ask about anything else.  
“Oh, yes please! What is it?”  
“Okay, so it’s simple. You get into a position that’s really comfortable for you,” she laid down, placing her hands under her head. “And then you just imagine your favourite place, it’s that simple. And then when you have that in your mind, you can describe it to the other person. That way, when you’re away from them, you can think about that place, you can imagine being in that place with them. So even when I’m not here, you can think of us together in a places filled with senses,” she smiled softly.  
“Okay, I think I get it,” Angel said as she laid down, resting her head on Cassie’s side. “You go first!”  
“Alright, so I’m laying on the grass, the ground is comfortable, like, not too hard but not all soft and damp and weird. And I can feel the grass tickling my skin ever so slightly. I can hear the chatter of people around me, I don’t know what they’re talking about, but I can feel that they’re happy and content, talking amongst themselves while I just enjoy the day. It’s a nice warm day, one where the sun is shining but the sun isn’t burning my skin, it’s just comforting. The smell around me is something of meats cooking, they’re grilling and the smoke is just delicately hanging in the air. If I open my eyes, all I can see is the bright blue sky, spattered with just a few fluffy clouds floating by,” she smiled, a little satisfied sigh falling from between her lips.  
“That sounds real nice, is it a memory?” the curious cherub asked.  
“Yeah, back when everything was just simple and nice at home,” her smile was tinged with sadness.  
“Okay, my turn now!” Angel giggled with excitement. “Right, so I’m really comfy, like super comfy because I’m laying on one of my favourite people, her hoodie is just super soft. And she smells pretty, like flowers…” she paused as she just took in the smell again. “The main thing I can hear is her heart beat, it’s quiet, but it’s there and I like it.”  
“That sounds like a really nice place to be,” Cassie smiled sweetly.  
“It’s the best… I wish I could be there forever,” she sighed happily.  
“When you’re having a bad day, or you feel lonely, you can think about that place, and when you think about it, I might be thinking about it as well, and we can be there together,” she put her arm around the small child. “You might be alone in the room, but you’re not alone, okay?”  
“Did daddy tell you why I can’t leave this room?” Angel sat up, looking down at her hands.  
“He did,” Cassie looked at her, watching as Angel couldn’t even make eye contact with her.  
“I didn’t mean to hurt her…”  
Cassie sat up quickly and put her arm around Angel, trying to comfort her as well as she could. “I know you didn’t, sweetheart.”  
“Daddy’s last girlfriend left because of me as well…”  
“No, she left because she was stupid,” Cassie drew her closer.  
“No, it was all my fault,” her voice began to crack.  
“Stop it, no, it was not you fault at all, okay, none of this is your fault. You will slowly learn to control your powers, but it’s not your fault you can’t control them. It’s like anything else. As a baby, you learn how to use your legs, if you fall, it’s not your fault. None of this is your fault, okay?”  
“I just don’t want daddy to be sad because of me…”  
“And he won’t be, you’re not the cause of his sadness. You are the light of his life. He loves you so much.”  
“And you won’t leave because of me?” she asked Cassie earnestly.  
“Never, the only reason I would leave is if your dad is an idiot,” she joked, still holding onto her.  
“You’re the best, you know that?” Angel finally smiling.  
“Nah, you’re the best!”  
“I thought I was the best,” John announced from the door, ice cream cones in hand.  
“Sorry, you’ve been replaced,” Cassie grinned.  
“I guess that means all three of these cones will be for me then,” he teased.  
“No, that’s not fair!” Angel pouted, jumping to her feet and rushing over to her dad.  
“Once Cassie admits I’m the best, then you’ll get the ice cream,” he toyed.  
“Cassie…” Angel looked at her with big eyes.  
“Fine, John, you are the best, and you’ll always be the best,” she said with a fake exasperation.  
“That’s better,” he gave a smug grin as he settled down on the floor next to Cassie. “For you, my darling Angel,” he handed her the strawberry cone, “and I guess this one’s for you,” he teased, handing Cassie the coffee ice cream. “So what you been doing while I was gone?” he asked casually, looking between his two favourite girls.  
“We were playing a game,” Angel grinned before returning to her ice cream.  
“Something I used to do as a kid. You just think about your favourite place, a place you’re comfortable, and you tell your friends, using all the senses to explain it, so when you miss them, you can think about that place, and you’re with them, you know?” Cassie explained a little sheepishly.  
“That’s really sweet,” John replied, resisted the urge to tuck that stray strand of hair away.  
“What would be yours?” Angel asked a little excitedly.  
“Hm… and it can be wherever I want to be?” he asked, pausing to think at Cassie’s nod. “Well, I guess I would be on a cloud, a big comfy, fluffy one, and it has the perfect butt indent so it is the absolutely comfiest. There would be a strong smell of sugar because of course the cloud is also made of candy floss!” he grinned widely. “But also close by me, there’s a unicorn that has a big wild mane of rainbow coloured hair, and it’s amazingly soft, so soft that you can’t resist but want to plait it. And it’s just peaceful, you can hear the wind whistling through the cloud, and just the odd chirp from a bird, and it’s just absolute bliss,” he smiled softly.  
“You’re so silly, daddy,” Angel grinned.  
“Yeah Jacky-boy, everyone knows that unicorns don’t sleep on clouds, silly man,” Cassie snorted.  
“Oh really? Where do they sleep then?” John huffed.  
“They live in forests, obviously, pegasuses would live on clouds since they have wings and can actually fly up to the clouds,” Cassie’s tone took on a mocking condescension, punctuated as she finished by licking at her ice cream.  
“Check out the nerd,” John snorted, nudging Angel playfully.  
“Don’t be mean to Cassie! She’s clearly smarter than you,” Angel stuck out her tongue.  
“You guys are so mean,” John pouted.  
“Aw,” Cassie put her arm around John’s shoulders. “It’s okay, you might be dumb, but I still like you,” she grinned as she put her chin on his shoulder.  
“I brought you ice cream, and this is how you repay me…”  
“You’re the one who called me a nerd!” Cassie protested.  
“But you are a nerd, you can’t deny that at all.”  
“Maybe not, but you’re a nerd as well, dear John,” Cassie nudged him.  
John sighed dramatically. “I guess!”  
“You’re both dumb nerds,” Angel giggled.  
“That’s what we call an oxymoron, sweetheart,” John’s tone dropped to caring father, “we can’t be both nerds and dumb.”  
“Actually,” Cassie gingerly interrupted, “we could. Being nerds, yeah, we know a lot about coding and how the technology works, but we could have massive gaps in our knowledge. We could be really bad with social situations and reading signals from people around us, or we could simply have no knowledge about the mythology of unicorns,” she grinned playfully.  
“So you can be dumb nerds?” Angel asked innocently.  
He sighed heavily. “Yup, we’re big dumb nerds…”

It seemed almost impossible to be together like this and be sad, the current situation bringing a massive grin to Cassie’s face as she nodded as well, happy that they could all finally agree that they were indeed big dumb nerds. The three of them just seemed to be happy being around each other as they finished up their ice cream cones and then filled the rest of the day with simply more of each other’s company. Angel was just happy to finally be able to spend time with someone that wasn’t her overbearing father, with Cassie here, it was like she could be a kid again and they could just mess around and have fun. Of course she took advantage of this as much as she could.

Angel was slightly running circles around the two adults, demanding game after game, with more and more junk food and every time John nearly said no, Cassie would simply convince him that they should say yes instead. Obviously, no one was going to replace her mother and no one would ever be able to, but Cassie was taking a really soft spot in her heart because of how caring and how much she didn’t seem to be phased by all of this. She hadn’t felt this much love from someone who wasn’t her father for such a long time and the kindness from her simply made Angel feel so much warmth. She really hoped that she wasn’t going to go anywhere because this was also the first time in a while that she had seen her father smile so much.

The day seemed to be flying by and Cassie didn’t even look at her watch once, something that seemed somewhat of a miracle, but when you added in the fact she hadn’t even drunk six cups of coffee to get through the day, it seemed even more magical. Then again, it wasn’t exactly surprising that when you spent a day with the man you were falling in love with and one of the sweetest little girls you’d ever met, you didn’t have to force yourself through the day. She wasn’t panicking constantly and trying to stay awake, she was just living in the moment and letting her heart fill up with all the love she could get from these two.

Eventually, it was late enough for Angel to be yawning softly while she tried her best to stay awake, but wasn’t sure that she could do it. John insisted that she should simply go to bed and they would leave her to fall asleep, but she pouted and demanded that she got a bedtime story and of course, Cassie instantly gave in and John felt like he had to follow suit so he wouldn’t have to look like the bad guy. So the two adults perched on the edge of the bed and waited while Angel got her book and then climbed onto the bed. They settled either side of her, their arms going around each other’s shoulders almost instinctively as the child between them opened the book with a smile and demanded to be read to.

John was very well-practised in reading to his daughter, not just making sure to really get the narration spot on, but over time, he had developed character voices that he would slip into for all the different types, even adapting a strange high-pitched one whenever he was voicing a female character. Cassie never really read aloud to herself let alone with an audience and for some reason, she was somewhat nervous. As John started, it didn’t take long for her to get into the swing of it and then it was almost like they had become a well-oiled machine that perfectly told the story of the princess trying to save her kingdom from a horrid warlock.

They were reading for quite a while before she finally drifted off, and John felt her fall slightly limp, looking up at Cassie as he smiled, looking down at his sleeping daughter finally being still. Expertly, he moved from under her, carefully standing and then laying her back down on the bed, stopping only when she stirred slightly so he wouldn’t end up waking her. Cassie delicately slid off the bed as to not bother the now sleeping Angel and was almost compelled to lean over and kiss her on the forehead, falling in love with her even more. She wasn’t delusional, she knew she wasn’t her mother, but she just wanted to look after her, be there for her, and do anything she could to make sure that she was happy. But she let John tuck her in, not wanting to push it too much like she was imposing the idea that she could be Angel’s new mother.

Once they were sure that Angel was comfortable and asleep, the two of them left the room and smiled at each other like they had just completed a job well done. Yet still, she could see the slightly sad look in his eyes, wishing so much that she could just take all of this away. While she knew she couldn’t do that, she did what she could and that was to reach out and take his hand so he knew that she was there for him. She wasn’t going anywhere and she was going to be by his side every step of the way.

“Today was amazing,” she said softly, nudging him with a smile.  
“Really? It wasn’t boring, or anything?” he sounded nervous.  
“Of course not, ice cream, playing games, chocolate, cup cakes, dress up, that was the most fun I’ve had in years!” she grinned.  
“But you weren’t scared, or worried or anything?” he still wasn’t convinced.  
“I mean, I was a little bit scared I might have done something wrong in front of Angel, but I think we kept it under control.”  
“So you weren’t worried about Angel’s powers?” he pried a little more.  
“Nope,” she answered a bit blunter than she intended.  
“Wait… done something wrong? What did you think you were gonna do?” he sudden registered what she said.  
“I dunno… like I would hold your hand for too long and she’d notice, or I’d say something and she’d pick up on it. I know it must be hard trying to not get her hopes up of a new mother figure and stuff, so I didn’t want to pile it on… or gross her out,” she snorted.  
“I think we achieved that, she really likes you, you know?” he smiled, genuine happiness bubbling inside of him.  
“I know, and I think she’s an amazing girl,” she cooed brightly.  
“Seeing the two of you together… I don’t think I’ve ever felt that much content before,” he tucked a blonde curl behind her ear.  
“I think this is the first day I’ve only had what, one cup of coffee?” she chuckled.  
“Two if you could the ice cream, right?” he joked.  
“Ah, there’s not enough caffeine in that to count at all,” she grinned guiltily.  
“Sure,” he chuckled. “Could I maybe interest you in a cup of coffee? You know, just to make you feel more like yourself?”  
“And spend more time with you? Oh… I dunno,” she badly acted like she didn’t want to spend any time with him.  
“You don’t have to, you could just go home and be bored all on your own,” he gave a nonchalant shrug.  
“I suppose when you put it like that, I might as well,” she shot him a cheeky smirk.  
“Jeez, you don’t have to if it’s such a problem for you,” he acted offended.  
“Aw, c’mon, you know you’re always gonna be my favourite person.”  
“Oh, I thought Angel was your favourite person now,” he pouted.  
“Between just us, I think I might like you more,” she said in a hushed tone.  
“Oh really?” he leant closer to her.  
“Really.”

Cassie wasn’t extremely short, but compared to Jack, she was a lot shorter and so making the first move in this situation required placing a hand on the back of his neck and pulling him down closer while she stood up on the tips of her toes. She could already feel her heart beating in her throat but she had to swallow it and push it down, nervously playing with a tuft of his hair as her other hand started to tangle with his fingers. Finally swallowing everything down, she planted her lips on his, a little satisfied murmur coming through her throat as she felt his free hand on the small of her back. He pulled her closer, not wanting to let her go as they finally shared their first kiss and it was everything that he thought it could be.

* * *

Cassandra had spent an awful long time typing, although oddly, it didn’t feel all that long. Despite everything that was at risk and the circumstances of what was going on, she was completely lost and comfortable while she was coding, almost like the world didn’t exist outside this room. Perhaps this was the only way that she could rationalise all of this and actually be able to get any of the work done without constantly thinking about the threats of Jack. Her eyes were beginning to sting every so slightly, but she ignored it as much as she could so she could carry on feeling that she had made an awful lot of progress. The problem was, this still wasn’t complete and she had to work faster and harder if she was going to do it before he came back.

The dread surged through her body as she heard the door open and she resisted the urge to beg, wanting to at least show she was stronger than him, that he wouldn’t break her. She carried on typing, acting like she was just ignoring him and getting on with what she needed to do, but really, her heart was beating faster as her hands began to shake. The footsteps drew closer and once more, the hand of fate rested on her shoulder as they both stayed still. She could see the reflection of his wicked smirk in the computer screen, both of them knowing what was coming next.

“So, will I be wiping out an entire village or not today?”  
“Please, it’s nearly done, I tried so hard, but this is just so much to do.”  
“Don’t give me excuses here, I wanted it done today.”  
“John please, th-” her words stopped by the sudden hand around her throat as he spun her chair around.  
“Never call me that,” he snarled, his grip tightening for a moment. “What you’re telling me today is that you haven’t finished the code, right?”  
She nodded.  
“Well then,” he removed his hand finally, spinning her chair back around. “I did tell you what would happen, didn’t I?”  
“You don’t have to do it, I’m working, I’m not trying to defy you, please,” she begged.  
“You said you would be finished by today, you’re not,” he said nonchalantly, leaning forward and pressing a button on the computer to bring up a camera feed. “I always keep my promises,” he said darkly with a wicked smirk.  
Her eyes widened as her childhood village came up on the screen. “Don’t.”  
“Your parents still live there, don’t they? It’s a shame, it’s quite a nice little place.”  
“Other people live there as well, they have nothing to do with this, you can’t do this.”  
“I think you missed something here sweetcheeks, I’m Handsome Jack, I can do whatever I want.”

There was nothing she could do to stop him from doing this and so she simply sat in her chair, completely helpless as she watched him order the attack on the village. In almost seconds, all of the buildings were flattened, and most people were dead. The camera didn’t show all of the dead bodies, but her mind worked hard to remind her of all the people she knew growing up in that village and telling her that they were now dead. The kids that she would play with when she was a kid herself, all the adults who raised their eyebrows when she built weird little robots to do small tasks, and her parents. So many emotions started to burn through her and her hands began to shake, steadying them as she balled them into fists.

It all boiled over and she couldn’t stop herself any more, forcefully pushing the chair out straight into Jack and stunning him for a moment. As he tried to regain his balance, she threw a direct fist at him, connecting heavily with his jaw, his groan of pain bringing the smallest hint of a smile. While he was still slightly stunned, she rushed him, but this time as she raised her first to hit him once more, he threw up a leg, kicking her in the knee which caused her to lose her balance. As she tried to get straightened up, he landed a wild punch, dazing her as she stumbled backwards against the wall. Before she could recover, one of his hands gripped her throat, pinning her and then used his other hand to punch her again, blood starting to fill her mouth.

“Fuck you,” she spat the blood from her mouth at him.  
“Oh, Cassie-bean,” he cooed menacingly, “you never learn, do you?”

The room was still for just a moment, a moment in which they locked eyes and she could see the true horror of what he had become. Facing this was becoming harder with each day, wishing more than anything that she could just go back in time and make this all different. If she had stayed with him, maybe she could have finally made him happy and controlled this, curbed his desire to exact revenge on all of humanity for what happened to him. Even if she couldn’t have stopped it with her love, she could have taken note when he was getting out of hand and just handled it herself. Maybe she and Angel could have been living in a peaceful refuge right now.

Jack seemed to just want to add as much pain to this moment as he possibly could, tightening the grip around her throat as he watched struggle more to breathe, but didn’t hold her tight enough to kill her. He just wanted to remind her that he was in charge, that he was the one that was in control of every aspect of her current existence. This time though, Cassie was fighting back, pushing him as much as she could, her hand fighting his as he began trying to unbutton her pants. She was trying so hard to stop him from hurting her even more than he had this day, trying to make this the moment that she could take control of this situation and show him that he wasn’t in control.

The problem was that despite her now burning hatred and fire to fight him, her body was still weak considering how little nourishment and useful sleep it had been given over the last few days. No matter how hard she tried to will her body to be better at this, he was still stronger, gripping her wrist painfully with his free hand and pinning it to the wall. She could tell that he was getting frustrated with her and she hoped that if she carried on fighting him, he would finally give up. She didn’t realise that he wasn’t going to give up and he definitely wasn’t going to let her win in this current battle.

Little did he know, but she was ready for a fight, finally raising a knee and hitting him squarely between his legs, a loud groan coming out of his mouth as his grip on her loosened. Finally feeling like this was a window, she pushed him away from her, watching him stumble back and then making a break for the door. Of course, the door didn’t open, almost like it was mocking her and reminding her how pointless all of this was. There was no way out because this was his domain and the fight was just never going to be won on her own. Maybe she could tell Angel that now was the time to bring in the Crimson Raiders, making a plan to get out and then go and save Angel as well. As she stood at the door, her mind whirred trying to think of a way out, but it was too late, Jack had regained his stability and stood behind her, sneering and waiting for her to turn around.

His footsteps echoed around the room as he moved closer to her, her eyes widening as she tried to think of what she could do next, her body tensing up while she watched him. He was like a predator, about to circle his prey until he finally struck, gripping both of her wrists and pinning her to the door, sneering down at her. It was almost like that drained the fight from her, simply freezing and looking up like a deer in headlights, the terror finally showing. That look seemed to feed him, giving him the power he craved and his smirk grew darker. As one hand moved down to undress her, the other caressed her cheek, leaning in and kissing her sloppily on the neck, almost as if this was a moment of passion and not control.

This time, she couldn’t dissociate from it, she couldn’t numb herself to what was happening, almost as if her brain was forcing her to feel this as a punishment for everything she had done. She had let him down, she had let Angel down, and now she had let the village where she grew up down. He guided himself inside of her once he had gotten her underwear off and began thrusting, every single one feeling like a punch to her stomach. A disgusted feeling brewed inside of her, but this time it was directed at herself, closing her eyes as she could feel his teeth sinking into the side of her neck, making his mark and letting her know she could do nothing but let him do as he wanted.

Instead of the silent crying, she whined as she tried to push him away, but everything she did only seemed to fuel him more as he thrusted deeper and faster, pushing up against her even more. He began to pant heavily, groaning until he finally came with a shudder, a satisfied murmur escaping from his throat as he rested his head in the crook of her neck just for a moment. A whimper involuntarily left from between her lips, unable to comprehend how he could be so brutal and then rest here in such a soft moment. He pulled out and this time, he redressed her, but instead of it being tender, he did it simply to wipe himself on her clothes. Everything was just to remind her that he was the one in charge.


End file.
